SDSU Financial Markets Lab · 2026-27
Last year we
forecast the Fed.
This year: it's up to you.
A year-long student research project on the questions moving markets right now, and the students pick the topic. Voting is open now.
The Project
One question.
Two semesters. One paper.
The Financial Markets Lab is SDSU's student-run research group. Each year we take one open question about markets and spend two semesters answering it: gathering the data, writing the code, publishing what we find.
Last year's question was domestic: can you predict the Fed's next move? This year the question is wide open, and the exact mission is the ballot below.
Forecasting the FOMC
A multinomial logistic regression trained on 163 Fed meetings (1998 to 2025), forecasting each decision as a hike, hold or cut from the macroeconomic data available beforehand. Built end to end by students.
Why Join
What you leave with.
A paper with your name on it
Real published research for your résumé or grad-school application.
→The tools desks actually use
R and Python on real market data, not textbook examples.
→One hour a week
Built to fit around a full course load.
→A say in the work
Starting with the topic you pick below.
→The Ballot Voting open
Four contenders.
You decide.
Tap the project you'd want to spend a year on, then cast your vote below. The winner becomes the lab's 2026-27 mission.
Cast Your Vote
Make it count.
One ballot per student, open to anyone at SDSU. Results are announced at the first Wednesday session.
Takes 20 seconds · no account needed
Ballot cast.
Thanks. The winning topic is announced at the first Wednesday session. See you there.
The Fine Print
Here's the info.
Questions, or want us to visit your class? mkocherga7657@sdsu.edu